Air operated chuck



June 28,1949. Mms-m12 ETAL 2,474,771

AIR PERATED CHUCK Filed Jan. 25, 1947 3 sheets-Sheet 2 `lune 28, 1949.J. B. AMs'ru-fz TAL 2,474,771

AIR OPERATED CHUCK "tiled Jan. 2s. '1947,A s'sheets-sheet 3 llll l'rotatable feed end I. The screw I9 (head only shown) holds the roller I1to the roller support I8. Upon striking and moving past the roller, thecam handle rotates 90 degrees and the air valve i5 is closed to therebyrelease the pressure in the chuck mechanism thereby causing the jaws 5and blocks 1 to release their grip on the part being machined, as inthis case the valve body 3. The machine operator may then remove thisnished piece and install an unfinished one; and upon manually openingthe valve the new piece will be grasped by the jaws 5 and blocks 'l andthen moves through the subsequent machining cycle, a portion of whichhas been described above.

Connected to the air valve I5 are the conventional tubing and fittingssuch as a 45 degree street L designated Zil, an elbow 2l, the tubing 23,the bushings 24 and a coupling 25. This assembly is more signiiicantwhen viewed in Fig. l

2 which is a fragmentary sectional view of the face plate 2 and theconnecting air fittings taken on a line through the center and along anoblique line through the air valve I5 showing a portion of the airchamber 32. The air enters the machine head assembly through the airinlet 26 (Fig. 2) and through a conventional rotating pressure joint,not shown, but which is attached t the shaft '21 shown in section. Theface plate 2 is attached to the shaft 21 and the shaft flange 28 bymeans of the bolts 29; and thus the face plate 2 is arranged to respondto the combined rotary and reciprocal movement of the shaft 21. Thelatter shaft member is made integrally engaged in the shaft anges 28 byany conventional fastening means to eifect a sealed joint therebetween.

The air or other fluid, after passing through the shaft 21 moves throughthe respective passage ways to the individual air valves such as I5. InFig. 2, the piping shown is representative of a conventionalapplication. The coupling 25, the bushings y24, and the tubing 23 arepiped to the air valve l while the nipple 38 and the 45 degree street L28 lead to the air chamber 32 with the inlet 3l. The pipe plugs 33 and34 (shown in dotted lines) are used merely to seal the end openings madein providing the radially extending air passage ways also shown indotted lines. The air valve I5 is a conventional three-way plug valve orcock which when positioned with the valve cam handle I 5 as shownparallel to the line of flow allows the air to pass into the air chamber32. Thus if the valve cam handle l5 is turned to extend at right anglesto that shown, which occurs when the complete unit revolves, the valvecam handle I 6 is caused to ride and be turned by the roller I1. In thelatter position the `air above the valve I5 would then be shut off andupon the occurrence of such operation within the chamber 32 it wouldexhaust through the air valve I5.

In considering the manner in which the chucks are actuated, attention isdirected to Fig, 3 in which a detailed cross-sectional view is shown ofone of the chuck mechanism employed. The T- shaped lugs or section ofthe jaws 6 engages the interlocking and recessed section of the wedge35. The springs 33 act to maintain a load against the interlocking meansof the wedge 35, the air inlet 3| leading to the chamber 32 being thesame as the inlet 3| shown in Fig. 2.

Directing attention now to Fig. 4 showing a fragmentary sectional detailof the clutch mechanism, the chuck body 3 is attached to the face plate2 by means of the cap screws 5. The jaws 6 to which are fastened thechuck blocks 1 by means of the screws 8 ride in and out of the chuckbody 3, their movement being dependent upon that of the wedge member 35,their pressure being maintained against the interlocking means of thewedge 35 by the springs 36 held in place by the pipe plug 31 and the pin38. The wedge 35 is threadedly engaged to the piston rod 39, this unitbeing fastened to the piston 49 by means of' the cap screw 4I and thescrews 42 which connect the piston rod clamp 43 to the piston 40. Animportant feature of the piston rod 39 is that upon loosening the scapscrew 4I the centrally located piston rod 39 may be rotated in itsthreaded engagement in the wedge 35 thus providing an adjustment for thewedge in relation to the piston 48 as well as to the jaws E. Thisadjustment governs the positioning of the jaws 6 and the blocks 1 whilein the closed or holding position. The latter piston member` issupplemented by the cup type piston packing 44 and the clamp ring 45which is held in place as shown by means of the screws 41.

With an increase in pressure in the chamber 32 by allowing air to enterthrough the inlet 3l, the pressure of the latter uid bears against the'piston 48 and as the piston moves forward, to the left in Fig. 3,carrying the wedge member 35 also forward, the jaws 5 bear against thelatter wedge" member and in riding down the interlocking inclined plane48 of the wedge 35 they move towardsy the center. The chuck blocks 1fastened to the jaws 3 by means of the screws 8 are thereby broughtclose together. It will thus become apparent that upon placing an objectto be gripped between the two chuck blocks 1 the object would be engagedin the blocks and securely held for subsequent machining.

Upon release of the air pressure by a degree rotating of the valve camhandle I5 the springs 49 (see Fig. 5) return the piston to its openposi-v tion. The jaws 6 and the chuck blocks 1 then ride up on theinterlocking inclined plane 48 of the wedge 35, thus moving outward torelease i, their grip on the article formerly held. The guide pin 59serves to maintain the location of the spring 49, as shown in Figs. 3and 5.

The opening of the air valve I 5 by the machine operator, thus causingthe unmachined article to be grasped in the chuck mechanism, starts thearticle on its course where in predetermined and preselected locationsupon the partial rotation and alternate reciprocable movement of thefeed of the semi-automatic chucking machine it receives successive andadditional machining or threading operations as desired. It should, ofcourse, be understood that the machining of theY article is done alongonly one axis of the article at any one given time as illustrated inFig. 1 although the fluid operated chuck of the instant invention isuseful. in accomplishing multiple machining operations. Upon receivingits predetermined number of machine operations and during the finalindexing the article is automatically released in the chuck mechanismwhen the cam handle or lever arm I6 of the air valve strikes the rollerl1 and arm I 8 which causes the valve to close thus releasing thepressure in the chuck actuating mechanism. The operator then removes themachined article and inserts` an unfinished one in its place. The abovedescribed cycle concerns only a single article; however, it should befurther understood that the current contribution is capable of handlinga plurality of articles simultaneously and upon the partial rotation topredetermined positions a multiple number of articles may receive theirrespective additional machining operations.

It should thus be apparent that the novelty of this invention residesnot only in the single chuck as described immediately above, but in thearrangement of a plurality of such chucks which when paralleled with anumber of cutting, broaching or threading tools allows for machining aplurality of articles simultaneously.

It should be clear from the foregoing that the structural details mayVary quite substantially from that shown and described and therefore itis the desire that the scope of this invention be measured by theappended claims interpreted in light of the prior art.

We claim:

1. A fluid operated chuck comprising in combination a set of jaws, iluidconveying means fon' effecting actuation of the said chuck, chuck blocksattached to the chuck for holding articles to be machined, a wedgemember for holding the said jaws in spaced apart relationship so thatupon predetermined movement of the said wedge member relative to thesaid jaws the latter members are reciprocably moved, a uid chamberwithin the chuck cooperating with the said fluid conveying means, pistonmeans fastened to the said wedge member, and valve means actuated uponrotation of the said chuck for release of uid pressure from the saidchuck chamber whereupon the said jaws move apart upon the said wedgemember to thereby release the machined article.

2. An air operated chuck comprising in combination a set of jaws, uidconveying means for operating the chuck, chuck blocks cooperating withthe said jaws for holding an object to be machined, a wedge memberholding the said jaws in spaced apart relationship so that upon slidingmovement of the wedge member upon the said jaws the latter members aremoved in a reciprocable manner, the said chuck having a fluid chambercommunicating with the said fluid conveying means, a piston attached tothe said wedge member, and control means for releasing the fluidpressure in the said fluid chamber upon predetermined rotative movementof the chuck whereby the said jaws move outward to release their grip onthe machined object.

3. A fluid operated chuck comprising in combination a set of jaws, fluidconveying means for effecting actuation of the saird chuck, chuck blocksattached to the chuck for holding articles to be machined, a wedgemember for holding the said jaws in spaced apart relationship so thatupon predetermined movement of the said Wedge member relative to thesaid jaws the latter members are reciprocably moved, a uid chamberwithin the chuck cooperating with the said fluid conveying means, pistonmeans normally in the open position fastened to the said wedge member,resilient means cooperating with the said piston means, valve meansactuated upon rotation of the said chuck for release of fluid pressurefrom the said chuck chamber whereupon the said jaws move apart upon thesaid wedge member to thereby release the machined article, the saidresilient means returning the said piston to said open position.

4. An air operated chuck comprising in combination a set of jaws, fluidconveying means for operating the chuck, chuck blocks cooperating withthe said jaws for holding an object to be machined, a wedge member withan interlocking inclined plane and holding the said jaws in spaced apartrelationship so that upon sliding movement of the wedge member upon thesaid jaws the latter members are moved in a reciprocable manner, thesaid jaws and chuck blocks upon release of air pressure riding up onsaid inclined plane of the wedge member to release their grip on theobject being machined, the said chuck having a uid chamber communicatingwith the said fluid conveying means, a piston attached to the said wedgemember, and control means for releasing the fluid pressure in the saidfluid chamber upon predetermined rotative movement of the chuck.

JAMES B. AMSTUTZ. OTTO E. FIEROI-I.

REFERENCES CITED The following referefnlces are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,181,844 Church May 2, 19161,284,225 Bogart Nov. 12, 1918 1,413,330 Grace Apr. 18, 1922 2,326,371Le Tourneau Aug. 10, 1943

